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Kastles Classic features politicians, media

Step aside, Venus and Serena. The spotlight is on other tennis hot shots in Washington.

Two teams of lawmakers, Cabinet members, national media figures and even an NFL Hall of Famer competed Tuesday at the Washington Kastles Charity Classic, an event to benefit Share Our Strength, the D.C. Public Education Fund and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

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After seven doubles matches, team Stars, whose roster included National Economic Adviser Gene Sperling, Rep. Steve LaTourette and former Sens. Evan Bayh and John Breaux, walked away with the Kastles trophy, defeating the Stripes 41-39.

The Stripes held their own. In the second tiebreaker, Fox News’s Bret Baier and ABC News’s Jon Karl beat Bayh and Breaux 7-3. The team was still ahead after the third match, when Indian tennis star and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Leander Paes and former NFL cornerback Darrell Green won 7-4 against Kastles player Bobby Reynolds and St. Louis Rams linebacker Rocky McIntosh (formerly of the Redskins).

Karl sounded less confident about his skills Tuesday, however, when he tweeted only a half hour before the game began: “Tonight: I attempt some tennis at the @WashKastles Charity Classic w/ @BretBaier, @darrellgreen28, @SenEvanBayh, etal.”

Others decided to let their rackets do the talking.

Andrew Huff, spokesman for D.C. councilman Jack Evans — who played for the Stripes, and is known for having a sharp tongue — told POLITICO that Evans “prefers to take a more sportsmanlike approach,” adding that Evans “keeps his trash-talking to a minimum. … That doesn’t mean he isn’t ready with a mean backhand, if necessary.”

Evans “is always prepared for a cutthroat match,” Huff said, adding that the councilman “prepared mentally and physically” to face off on the court. But that didn’t pay off Tuesday when he and Paul Quander, D.C.’s deputy mayor for public safety and justice, were defeated by D.C. councilwoman Yvette Alexander and WTOP’s Mark Plotkin in the very first match.

Bloomberg News’s Hans Nichols, who was on the Stripes, also refrained from baiting other players.